Author Archives: Hannah

Veterans in the 21CSC : Jason Griffith – Mt. Adams Institute

Jason Griffith was born in Jonesboro, AR, the youngest of seven children. After graduating from high school, he worked several jobs ranging from construction to cook to bouncer to receptionist. The most rewarding jobs were those that allowed him to use his artistic and creative skills.

After many attempts to find his place in the world, Jason decided to enlist in the Army in 2001 as a Tracked Vehicle Mechanic. He attended Basic Training at Ft. Knox, KY. After graduating near the top of his Advanced Individual Training (AIT) class, Jason quickly rose to team leader status and later to squad leader. His unit was deployed to Iraq in 2003 and in 2008. Jason’s creative talents earned him the Meritorious Service Medal for his design of an external storage and deployment system for the TALON robot, which is used to clear routes of explosive devices. Jason’s design decreased the amount of time that soldiers both inside and outside the vehicle were exposed to enemy fire from four minutes down to 10 seconds.

During his second deployment on a mission to recover vehicles that had broken down near Baghdad, Jason was thrown from his 50-caliber machine gun turret. He sustained a cracked spine, ruptured disk, and a compressed nerve that would eventually lead to three surgeries, four different pain management procedures and countless rounds of shots, physical therapy and painkillers. He ultimately received a medical discharge.

At this point Jason entered the Community Based Warrior Transition Unit (CBWTU), a program that allows Reserve and National Guard soldiers to stay at home while undergoing medical treatment and recovery. Jason took advantage of an option that allowed him to report to the Mark Twain National Forest near his home in southeast Missouri for the duration of the program. There, he worked mostly with the Recreation Department. His experience was profound: Jason felt that he “was destined to follow a career path within the Forest Service.”

Jason stayed with the U.S. Forest Service as a sponsored volunteer for two years, and then another six months as a regular volunteer. He hoped that this experience would lead to a permanent job, but this didn’t work out as planned so he left his volunteer position to find a job that paid the bills.

A little more than a year later, in 2014, Jason discovered the VetsWork program: an AmeriCorps program offered through the Mt. Adams Institute that supports veterans seeking to transition from the military into a civilian career in natural resources or public lands management. Fortunately for Jason, VetsWork had an open position with the Mark Twain National Forest. He decided to give it another chance. Jason accepted a position as a Recreation Assistant, responsible for ensuring that the forest’s lands were accessible to the public. Jason says it felt “like being away for a long time, and finally coming home.”

Jason served a full 45-week VetsWork term of service and began a second term before being offered a permanent full-time position with the forest as Recreation Technician in August 2015. In summing up his experience, Jason said, “Of all the stepping stones on the path to becoming a permanent employee with the U.S. Forest Service, the VetsWork program has taken me farther and higher than any other.”

Veterans in the 21CSC : Zachary Dancy – Southwest Conservation Corps

Crew Leader, Veteran Fire Corps, Southwest Conservation Corps, Durango, CO

Before joining the Army National Guard, Zach worked as a Licensed Practitioner Nurse at a Specialty practice in western Colorado for four years. He found this experience to be very rewarding, but also very challenging with long days and nights; burnout was a big reality. Looking for something different, but still in the medical field, he joined the National Guard. After preliminary screening it was determined that he would be fit to work as a medic (MOS 68W), and he quickly jumped on the opportunity.

Zach shipped out to basic training at Ft. Jackson, SC, and then to occupational training at Fot. Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX. Shortly after finishing all of his training he was unexpectedly deployed to Bagram, Afghanistan for a year where he worked in the 947^th Engineering Unit from Colorado. After his deployment he returned stateside and was active until spring 2015 when he took his current position as a Crew Leader for the AmeriCorps-based Veterans Fire Corps Program at Southwest Conservation Corps (SCC).

Before becoming a Crew Leader with SCC, Zach was involved with the Veterans Fire Corps program through Arizona Conservation Corps in Tuscon. There he came to really enjoy the work, as well as the people he got to work with. Every day he is excited to go out into the field and help others progress and succeed in the Veterans Fire Corps program. Though fire has become a lingering interest for Zach, for now he wants to stay involved in VFC programs for the foreseeable future.

Veterans in the 21CSC : Emily Hovendick – California Conservation Corps

From California Conservation Corps

Emily Hovendick grew up in Wyoming and served in the US Navy for two terms. She was an aviation mechanic and finished her military career as an E6. She then attended University of California, Irvine and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Archeology. In November 2014, Emily joined the California Conservation Corps’ (CCC) Camarillo Center as a Fisheries Veteran Corpsmember. She was hired to assist with population status and trend monitoring of southern California steelhead, and to help restore critical habitat for these endangered fish.

Emily worked with many of the CCC’s partner agencies and organizations, including the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, South Coast Habitat Restoration, Mountain Restoration Trust, The Nature Conservancy, and Ojai Valley Land Conservancy. She worked on a variety of restoration projects, including non-native species eradication, barrier removals, and native planting projects. Emily performed over 30 miles of various types of surveys to locate and quantify steelhead habitat, spawning activity, and population status. She also attended numerous trainings through which she learned about safe herbicide usage, proper grant writing, and various field survey techniques. Emily also attended the annual Salmonid Restoration Federation Conference in Santa Rosa, CA.

Emily took advantage of all of the resources the CCC offered, including the AmeriCorps scholarship opportunity. In May 2015, Emily left the CCC to take a job with the U.S. Forest Service as a training archeologist/firefighter. She earned this position with the fieldwork experience she gained with the CCC. Emily was always one of the hardest working Corpsmembers on any CCC project and repeatedly received praised from sponsors. She is greatly missed at the Camarillo Center!

Veterans in the 21CSC : Great Basin Institute – Nevada Conservation Corps

Veterans Conservation Corps Begins Works in Nevada’s Sloan Canyon NCA

On September 26th in Henderson, NV, five AmeriCorps members with Nevada Conservation Corps’ Veterans Conservation Corps program were joined by community volunteers, Congresswoman Dina Titus, Councilwoman Debra March, NV Energy Vice President for Government and Community Relations Judy Stokey and representatives from partnering organizations to launch the “From Military Service to Green Service” partnership at Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area. The event was covered by KTNV Channel 13 News.

One of the veterans, Ryan Richards of Reno, NV, left the Marine Corps after four years of service and decided to become involved with environmental service through Nevada Conservation Corps’ Veterans program. The program provides young military veterans opportunities to work outdoors building trails, improving habitats and protecting Native American cultural resources at Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area.

“This is a great opportunity for newly separated military veterans to gain work experience and training in a new career field,” said Richards. “I am happy and thankful for all of the participating organizations that are sponsoring this partnership.”

The partnership is supported by NV Energy Foundation, which provided the Conservation Lands Foundation a $75,000 grant in support of the Veterans Conservation Corps. Additional partners include the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), City of Henderson, Nevada Conservation Corps, and volunteers with Friends of Sloan Canyon. The veterans are also AmeriCorps members and will receive AmeriCorps Education Awards at the completion of their terms of service.

“Our support of the Veterans Conservation Corps is an extension of our commitment to honor the men and women who have served our country,” said Paul Caudill, NV Energy President and Chief Executive Officer. Caudill is also Chair of the NV Energy Foundation. “Not only will this program provide employment to local veterans, it will make a positive lasting impact on Sloan Canyon and the benefits it provides to the local community.”

Veterans in the 21CSC: Kris Pedings – Southwest Conservation Corps

From Southwest Conservation Corps, Durango, CO

As a kid, Kris remembers wanting to be a soldier, or a cowboy or a firefighter; always wanting to do something challenging and rewarding. He worked construction for a number of years in order to put himself through school in criminal justice. After finishing school he took time to see the world by serving in the Peace Corps in an agricultural program in Ecuador, and teaching English in China for several months. After returning to the United States, Kris started looking into the military and wanted to try his hand at the Special Forces; he felt drawn to how elite it felt, and how hard it would be to become successful. After more than a year of strenuous training, he was placed as a Special Forces engineer Sergeant with the 5^th group at Fort Campbell, KY.

After three years and a couple of deployments, things started to slow down and deployments started to get cancelled. This led him start thinking about a career with a Hotshot Fire crew or as a Smokejumper, someone who parachutes into a remote region to fight wildfires. Kris started contacting supervisors to get some insight. During this time, Kris worked on getting all of the necessary certifications to serve on a fire crew, but he found it difficult to finalize many of the certifications without the required field days. His search led him to phone calls with a couple of Fire Management Officers who highly recommended the Veterans Fire Corps (VFC) program, an AmeriCorps program of Southwest Conservation Corps.

Kris ended up applying to the VFC program and started just two days after getting his terminal leave and finishing up with the military. He found the VFC program to be just what he needed to pursue a career in wildland firefighting. The certifications, work experience and networking would help set him up for success within the federal land management agencies. Kris is currently sending out resumes to several Hotshot crews that are stationed with Smokejumping units. He is about to start a month-long Emergency Medical Technician course that will prepare him even further for a job in wildland firefighting.

Veterans and the 21CSC: Matt West – Mt. Adams Institute

Provided by the Mt. Adams Institute

Matt West is a U.S. Navy veteran in his second full-time term with VetsWork: Environment, an AmeriCorps program through the Mt. Adams Institute that supports career development for veterans seeking a civilian career in natural resource and public lands management.

Matt serves with the Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA), where he engages other veterans in service opportunities that restore the natural environment of the South Puget Sound and Joint Base Lewis McCord area. Matt designed an internship program for veterans with a community partner, the Center for Natural Lands Management (CNLM), that has helped over 25 veterans develop job skills in the environmental restoration sector. This program has doubled in size in its second year.

Matt is passionate about helping other veterans connect with the natural world. He believes there is a mutual benefit when veterans work on environmental restoration projects: the land benefits from attention, and – equally important for Matt – are the personal and potentially therapeutic affects of this work for Corpsmembers. Matt says, “By offering veterans a chance to heal the Earth, I have witnessed incredible transitions of incredible people doing incredible work.”

Matt’s civic engagement was also demonstrated through his personal Community Action Project. He worked closely with local organizations to secure donated materials, equipment and land, to create an edible garden for the community. The garden is situated in an urban neighborhood where children from 60 percent of the households receive free or reduced cost school lunches. Matt’s objectives were multi-dimensional: he sought to engage veterans in the project to engage their ethic for community service; he wanted to provide access to healthy food options for this low-income community; and he wanted to demonstrate to local residents the value of growing local, healthy food. The garden has been installed and the community is actively engaged in its maintenance. It was an incredible project with clear community impacts.

Through all of Matt’s experiences with VetsWork, he came to realize something: he loves service. Although he has a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and thought he would continue looking for a career in that field, Matt has discovered that he finds value and purpose in helping others.

Over the course of his 18 months in the program, Matt has developed a place for himself and his family in the national service world. He was even recently asked to share his thoughts about his experience to an audience of 200 supporters, including Washington State representatives and Veterans Affairs officials.

As a result of his hard work at his site and in his community, Matt was recently offered an employment contract with his sponsoring organization to support the internship program he developed as a VetsWork AmeriCorps member. He will begin this position at the end of his term of service.

Faces of the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps: Jhon Joseph and Xavier Cruz of Southwest Boston Community Development Corporation

This summer we plan to highlight several of the participants in the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC). Southwest Boston Community Development Corporation is a 21CSC program operator. To view all Faces of the 21CSC stories, please click here.

Jhon and Xavier are both entering their senior years in high school. John (right in photo above) has been a member of Southwest Boston CDC’s Hyde Park Green Team for the past 3 years and Xavier (left in photo above) for the past two.

The Hyde Park Green Team Youth Jobs and Environmental Education program employs 20-24 Hyde Park youth during the spring, summer and fall. Youth restore Hyde Park’s urban wilds, clean and beautify the Cleary/Logan Square business district and conduct outreach to residents and businesses to engage them in the process. Green Team participants learn landscaping skills and goat care, bicycle safety and safety in the woods. They learn about environmental careers, increase their knowledge of the Hyde Park community and its resources, and gain increased self-sufficiency through earned income. Through collaborative training sessions with area businesses and agencies youth also learn readiness skills including proper workplace conduct, conflict resolution, basic banking and money management, resume writing and interviewing.

This year Jhon and Xavier became full-fledged goatscapers. Last year the Green Team began using goats in Boston’s urban wilds as an efficient, cost effective, eco-friendly method of removing poison ivy and other invasive plants, making it safer and quicker for the Green Team to begin restoration projects.

Goats eat many invasive plants including Poison Ivy, Buckthorn, Multiflora Rose and Japanese Knotweed. But they will also eat native plants such as roses, saplings or the bark off grown trees. So goats are best used in areas with invasive plants that need to be removed, not in already landscaped areas.

As goatscapers, Jhon and Xavier provide fresh water each day, check the goats for health problems, treat minor injuries and provide supplemental grain or hay when necessary. The goats are enclosed in an electrified fence powered by a solar battery. One-two times per week (when the goats have eaten all the available invasive plants within the fence perimeter) Jhon and Xavier move and reset the electric fencing. This requires measuring out an area of approximately ¼ acre, clearing a path through brush where the fence will be set, staking the fence and attaching the solar battery. This is a challenging and time consuming job when the terrain is difficult, and especially when they accidentally disturb hidden wasp nest or when the one or more goats decide they do not want to cooperate. It takes stamina, creative thinking and team work to get the job done. Jhon and Xavier have proven to be capable goatscapers their first year doing the job. In total, the Green Team has worked with 13 goats this year in 3 separate herds.

Why did you join the Green Team?

Xavier: “I like to work outside doing physical activity. I also I like to work with a group. I feel good seeing the work we accomplish, and seeing that we come back stronger each year. Also, helping the community is important.

Jhon: I want to help the environment, keep the trees healthy. I also want people to be safe. I enjoy working with the group because we can ask questions and share our ideas about how to improve what we do.

How did you get to be goatscapers?

Jhon: I started as a crew member and was promoted because I did a good job.

Xavier: I stared as a crew member. I worked hard and stayed committed so got a promotion.

How do you like working with goats?

Xavier: This is my first time working with animals. It’s a great experience. The goats are easy, friendly, engaging. They become like family. Also I like the responsibility of caring for them. They are a big part of my life.

Jhon: Goats help make our restoration work go faster. It’s fun working with them and having a goatscaping partner. We figure out how to do things together.

What do you plan to do after high school?

Xavier: I plan to major criminal justice in college and become a Boston police officer.

Jhon: I plan to attend college. I haven’t yet decided what my major will be.

Faces of the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps: Dale Thomas of American Conservation Experience

This summer we plan to highlight several of the participants in the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC). American Conservation Experience is a 21CSC program operator. To view all Faces of the 21CSC stories, please click here.

American Conservation Experience is proud to showcase a former AmeriCorps member, Crew Leader, and United States Veteran, Dale Thomas.

Dale has had a long history of service. Not only in serving his community through volunteerism, but also serving his country. For 7 years Dale served with the Arizona Army National Guard, 819^th Engineer Company.

Joining the National Guard was the way he was going to help pay for his college tuition and do something meaningful with his life. Continue reading →

Faces of the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps: Daniel Gomez and Leslie Susan Fuentes of Environment for the Americas

This summer we plan to highlight several of the participants in the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC). Environment for the Americas is a 21CSC program operator. To view all Faces of the 21CSC stories, please click here.

Daniel Gomez, BLM California and Elkhorn Slough

My name is Daniel Gomez, and I am 25 years old. As a child I was fortunate enough to have been raised close to the beach so I often found myself running in the sand and gazing out into the ocean, amazed by its vastness. When it was time to leave the nest and go college I decided I wanted to explore the country so I headed off to the University of Pennsylvania where I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Earth Science.

While my initial interests in college were in petroleum geology I soon returned to my first passion, water. After graduating I returned home wanting to learn about the water issues that plague Central California. Living in a highly agricultural area I found a job with the City of Salinas doing environmental planning that was specifically directed toward agricultural issues, however, I quickly realized that I wanted to be out in the field getting messy and doing research. Having learned that watershed health is dependent on more than just the physical properties related to it, I was ecstatic to find an internship program with Environment for the Americas that focuses on the birds that live in shallow water and mudflats. Continue reading →

Faces of the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps: Radeanna Comb of Southwest Conservation Corps

This summer we plan to highlight several of the participants in the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC). Southwest Conservation Corps is a 21CSC program operator, and Radeanna Comb provided the following story. To view all Faces of the 21CSC stories, please click here.

Hello, my name is Radeanna Comb. I am currently part of the Southwest Conservation Corps Ancestral Lands Crew #642. Southwest Conservation Corps (SCC) has given me the opportunity to develop new skills to develop my leadership skills and learn strategic decision making. Crew 642 consists of four women and one male crew leader. We are a group of individuals that bonded together to work well as team. Our crew had the ability to prioritize our goal on completing tasks to eliminate all Russian Olive and Tamarisk trees in washes near Fort Defiance, AZ, on the Navajo Reservation. As a team, we have developed effective problem solving, self-awareness, effective decision making, learning agility, communication skills, multi-tasking, integrity, and likeability to complete our work tasks. Continue reading →